Manousos Klados

We would like to introduce the members of Society of Neuroscience to the Workshop on EMF Interactions with Excitable Tissues, organized in Madrid on 6 March, by the COST Action EMF-MED: European network for innovative uses of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) in biomedical applications (www.COST-EMF-MED.eu , see also www.cost.eu ).

Our Action COST EMF-MED presently gathers more than 150 experts from more than 30 countries. The Action itself is still within its first year, lasting from 2014 to 2018.

The excitable tissues were chosen as the first workshop topic, since in this topic we have a critical mass of research activities. Thus the aim of this workshop is to demonstrate the activities, resources, capabilities and results of the involved groups. Also, we expect to have industrial representatives, presenting their aspect of this topic.

We are pleased to invite SAN members to join this workshop and come to Madrid on 6 March.

The attendance of the workshop is free of charge.

Call and info is attached to this e-mail. The participation is welcome, either by attending as observer, or as active participant with a short presentation on the relevant topics.

COST EMF-MED is an open network, so all interested are invited to join. We are an interdisciplinary network, consisting of engineers, physicians, biologists, physicists, etc., building collaborations leading to innovative applications of EMFs in biomedicine.

The Evens Foundation (www.evensfoundation.be) is a European public benefit foundation with headquarters in Antwerp, Belgium and additional offices in Paris and Warsaw. It initiates and supports sustainable projects, and awards biennial prizes, that contribute to the progress and strengthening of Europe based on cultural and social diversity. Its three main action domains are European Citizenship, Peace Education and Media.

The Evens Foundation strongly believes that science has a role to play in promoting a more harmonious society in Europe. It thus supports relevant scientific research in the framework of its Science Prize. The 2013 scientific challenge focused on the highly exciting and fascinating topic of the neuroscience of empathy. No fewer than 20 proposals were submitted.

After careful consideration, the international expert jury unanimously selected the project “Upregulating the neuronal substrates of empathy via neurofeedback” of Professor John Gruzelier (Goldsmiths, University of London) and Professor David Sander (University of Geneva). Their research will explore a new way to directly boost the neural and behavioural substrates of empathic concern.

"The jury praised the solidity of the proposal, and strongly approved of the collaboration between two universities, the sharing of infrastructure and talent. They also found the use of neurofeedback extremely interesting. This suggested that the project had the potential to lead to intervention to encourage and promote empathy in individuals. Last but not least, the jury wanted to celebrate Prof. Gruzelier for his many years’ commitment to neurofeedback, which struggled for many years to establish its credibility in scientific circles but, thanks to deeper and more thorough research, has increasingly gained recognition." www.evensfoundation.be

During the SAN2014 conference dinner, the EVENS foundation President, announced the winners and presented the winners with the prize, below.

On the left Mrs Corinne Evens, Co-founder and Honorary President, and Marjolein Delvou, Programme Manager for Peace and Education, have been presented with bouquets by Professor Gruzelier ; on the right Dr Tomas Ros, the Evens Research Fellow, and Professor Gruzelier.

My thanks to all those who participated in SAN2014 in Utrecht making it an exceptionally strong scientific occasion. This built on the successes of the previous meetings held in Thessaloniki, Seville, Swansea, Istanbul and a Dubrovnik workshop. Following the tradition of meeting with other organisations, in Utrecht SAN met with The Netherlands National Initiative Brain and Cognition. This contributed greatly to the success of the occasion.

Previous meetings had been held in collaboration with the EU COST B27 initiative Electrical Neuronal Oscillations & Cognition, and in case of SAN2011 with the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the South-East European Research Centre, and participating Greek Societies including the Hellenic Societies of Neuroscience, of Biomedical Engineering, and of Neurophysiology, and the Psychological Society of Northern Greece. The conference dinner was held in the exhibition centre alongside a NASA exhibition, and the space theme was extended with a presentation of Professor Guy Chevron's research on weightlessness involving a Dutch astronaut. At the dinner Mrs Corinne Evens of the Evens Foundation and Professor Patrick Cras, the chairman of the jury, presented the award of the Foundation's 2013 scientific challenge: 'the neuroscience of empathy' - to the submission by Gruzelier, Sadler, Ros and Klimecki. The research will examine the effect of alpha desynchronisation feedback on an empathic concern task in an fMRI scanner. While the submissions did not match the number in Greece, in Utrecht attendance increased by 50% to reach around 300 attendees, and the growing strength of the submissions reflected the exponential increase in publications in the field since Thessaloniki, especially research on neurofeedback. The notable increase in young scientists in the field, that was seen in the attendance at SAN2013 in Thessaloniki, was complemented in Utrecht by empirical studies showing their keen awareness of key issues in cognitive neuroscience, which are necessary to advance the field. The meeting also saw a welcome increase in the number of scientists willing to put their shoulders to the wheel and support the running of the Society, which has fallen on just a small band of dedicated scientists and practitioners up until now. There are currently quite a wealth of new initiatives that are under consideration to broaden the reach of the Society and its structure. These will be the subject of a Newsletter in forthcoming weeks. There is likely to be a return to warmer Mediterranean shores for the next SAN meeting, tentatively scheduled for September, 2015. In conclusion special thanks to Martijn Arns, the conference-organiser-in-chief, assisted by Leon Kenemans for the NIBC, and Panos Bamidis, Soren Andersen and Manos Klados for SAN, and to the various organising committees.

Registration is only valid when full payment is received. Registration fee includes: breaks, lunches and conference binder. The Conference Dinner is to be reserved separately from the conference and exact pricing will be announced soon.

* Members of SAN will not receive an early bird discount.** Students must apply for registration with a confirmation of their student status. Students will not receive an early bird discount. Only MSc and PhD students are eligible to apply for student registrations.

It is our great pleasure to welcome you to the conference website of the 2014 Meeting of the Society of Applied Neurosciences (SAN), jointly organized with the National Initiative Brain and Cognition (NIHC). The conference will be held from January 30th to February 2nd, 2014 in the Royal Dutch Jaarbeurs in Utrecht (The Netherlands).

Confirmed keynote speakers include Niels Birbaumer, John Gruzelier, Pascal Fries, Katya Rubia, Thomas Schlaepfer and Jeff Daskalakis. Further keynote and invited speakers will be announced later.

Apart from the highly promising scientific program, there will also be a lively social program which will give our guests the opportunity to enjoy the city and its people. Besides, one of our main purposes is to give the chance to all colleagues to establish new fruitful international collaborations in areas of mutual academic and clinical interests.

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Special Issues

SAN2016

The Society of Applied Neurosciences in cooperation with the Medical School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Department of Neurology of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, have the great pleasure to welcome you to the SAN2016 meeting, which will be held in Corfu Island, Greece.